When I first went to 64-bit win7pro, I had horrible blue screen crashes with my HP laptop using prolific usb2serial. I found pointers on the web that the issue involved particular motherboards combined with the drivers to cause the blue screen - so not all laptops had this problem. Keyspan were more expensive, but they solved it about 98%. I still get very rare blue screens associated with astronomy - but I now see a strong correlation with using SkyX. I don't know how there would be a connection - but I do have an impression there is one - so I avoid SkyX during imaging sessions.

Anyway - I also recommend keyspan. They come with good software for monitoring the ports - etc.

This is not based on statistics, but the way I see it. MOST users don't need the extra range that serial connections provide. Therefore, having USB or Ethernet makes things easier for most users. Doesn't hurt of mount manufacturers would just offer both serial connection and one of the newer connection types.

RS232 or Ethernet. USB looks good superficially but experience shows it to be a nightmare of conflicting hardware, operating systems and drivers. With USB in a scope if the scope manufacturer doesn't support your computer or OS you are stuck. Look as how long it took to get the DSI cameras to have support for Vista or XP, especially 64 bits.

USB's worked fine for me for years, fine on a huge selection of devices outside this hobby as well. Serial worked but there were issues on how who implemented what. Ethernet, Serial, whatever the hardware conx / interconx - when you want to make stuff work there's software or at least firmware to handle the protocol / flavor. This stuff that goes on about 'software, drivers, compatability' makes me wonder - whatever the gadget/widget, code has always been needed and it's never perfect for use outside what the original intention was. Nothing is foolproof or perfect, but over time depending on what you need done there has been available. Saying something is clumsy or doesn't work well can be said about anything if you want, making it work with the means at hand for what you need is where it's at.

Serial will be around for a long time as long as there is high voltage machines requiring data communication.. Serial is much easier at controlling isolation between the devices.. Serial is also the preferred form of communications when motors are present.

I think that the misconception that USB is troublesome comes from the earlier versions of windows that support it. I remember with Windows 95 and 98 when they introduced plug and pray. With modern operating systems like XP, Vista & Windows 7. USB works very well with no issues. All USB issues with windows Vista where to do with lack of availability of drivers not the USB standard itself. If you had the driver it worked.

Meade DSI had difficulty because Meade decided not to be open about how the camera works. All drivers you find in other software such as MaximDL where written without support from Meade (At least that is how I remember it).

One more plus for Keyspan. I had been using a Belkin adapter for three years with no problems on my XP to classic Meade. Equipment upgrade required that I move from Ascom 5a to 6spi. At that point the computer and scope would no longer talk. Tried a Vista box with no luck. I saw the Keyspan recommended as a fix, and that proved to be true. It worked on the XP (now retired) and its replacement the Vista.

OK, since we're piling on, I'll add another +1 to the heap. I've been using mine for five years on multiple boxes running multiple OSs talking to multiple devices without one singe glitch. It just works time and time again.

Maybe a good idea is to skip the usb era with wireless? it can go very far too... (seen some product for mount...)

as dslr for ex. the 6D begin to be wireless shuttering and upload, very good to faststar and avoid wire problem

personal: rs232 is really painfull to me (china adapters mess with updates and things) real intel on laptop rs232 work properly in my case, I keep this old laptop to do updates.

I bought 2X 25 meters +-20$ active usb cable that work very good and never had problem with... I can't use an slow laptop as, I use it to stack and check my work in live... so I7, fast ssd, big 7200rpm drive... an asus g75vw

Seriously, it's time to go wheels-up with wireless communication architectures on mounts. USB is actually a dead end, also, since it has the length issues and is PC-tied.

Either bluetooth or WiFi have legs for the future. If they want to use serial cables internally, OK. Otherwise, this is seriously a trip into the land of the arcane as modern computing hardware is going to be far more likely to be a tablet than any form of PC. So, a bluetooth architecture would really be nice- especially since the dreaded cord wrap exits at that point.

Hey, if all the magic ASCOM driver with the special wire and the blessed +2 USB dongle and tinkering with a Remote Desktop box goes away in exchange for just using the :whee:wireless devices everyone already owns, I don't think you'll get a complaint.

I didn't actually read thru page 2 and 3 of the thread, but I just want to throw it out there that I have been using cheap Chinese made serial adapters without the slightest bit of trouble for about 6 months now. I didn't feel like paying $35+ for a proper converter when ebay had cheap china ones for $2.99 shipped. I expected bad results, so I bought 3 of them just in case. All 3 work perfectly and I've never had to switch one out because of failure. Its been in temps down to -5F and covered with frost without so much as a hiccup.

To top it off the cheap serial adapter is connected to a cheap 7 port USB hub mounted on my mount, and connected to my laptop in the garage with a PTC 65ft USB cable. When plugged in my comm port is always the same, so I'm not sure why others are having to switch ports everytime they plug in. As long as you plug into the same USB port as you did before, your comm port should end up being the same.